Saturday, September 15, 2007

Only in Durham

Liestoppers is reporting that the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People has made two endorsements in the race for City Council. One is . . . Victoria Peterson--last seen leading the parade as Mike Nifong headed to jail, carrying a sign attesting to Nifong's goodness and integrity.

This is also the same Victoria Peterson who:

advocated burning down the lacrosse house;

publicly suggested that Duke Hospital tampered with the DNA evidence;

opposed a gay rights measure on the grounds that all gays and lesbians are cross-dressers.

Here is a clip of the endorsee in action, after she was kicked out of the Nifong ethics hearing for threatening a lacrosse player's parent (in front of security officers, no less.)

40 comments:

I've occasionally wondered how someone like Victoria Peterson avoids prosecution for some of the zaniness and the trouble she instigates.

People in the Triangle already know what kind of an organization the Durham Committee is; however, their endorsement of Peterson is bold relief shorthand for those who don't know about this bigoted group......that is fully woven into the fabric of Durham.

Column in the H-S:

Durham must take responsiblity

By Jerry Lynn Grugin Jr. : Guest columnistSep 12, 2007 : 4:46 pm ET

Imagine you knew you were innocent of a crime, but police and prosecutors were investigating you for a crime. Imagine being young and having faith in the criminal justice system. You might volunteer to cooperate with police and prosecutors because you knew you were innocent.

Now, imagine being arrested for crimes you knew you didn't commit. You are young and had faith in the criminal justice system. What would be going through your mind? Would it feel surreal? Would it feel like something from a horror movie? As handcuffs go around both wrists, a deep sickening feeling would more than likely course through every fiber of your body. Your freedom is being temporarily taken from you.

Now think about those three young men from Duke who were falsely accused of crimes, yet arrested. What do you suppose went through their minds when they were arrested? How do you think they felt when handcuffs were going around their wrists? Would it put somewhat of a damper on your faith in the criminal justice system? Now, imagine being arrested for crimes you didn't commit and compound that with national media attention. Imagine friends shying away from you because you were arrested. Imagine the outrage from the families of those three young men falsely arrested and the reaction of people in their respective hometowns. Imagine the money spent for lawyers because you knew you were innocent.

Freedom is special, but too many people do not think enough about it. For example, why did our forefathers want and demand a localized system of law enforcement instead of one national law enforcement presence? For those of you reading this, do you know the answer? Why have police always had their power limited or held in check by other officials such as magistrates and judges? Again, for those reading this, do you know the answer? Why do police officers have rules they must follow and laws to obey? It's because freedom and individual rights were foremost on the minds of our founders.

The founders of this nation also demanded participation in government, to include voting. Each separate community is responsible for what goes on in that particular community. In a very real sense, people are supposed to share responsibility. Just because a person doesn't vote, doesn't alleviate that person from the responsibility he or she has within a particular community.

Law enforcement officials have a special responsibility to protect individual freedoms and liberties because they are the only persons in society who can temporarily take away a person's freedom by using legitimate coercive force. It seems that some citizens of Durham, to include law enforcement personnel, have lost sight of this very important and sacred responsibility. It is sad. Just look at the people who have written The Herald-Sun crying that the three young men from Duke should not punish the whole community. My stance is that it is not punishment. They were harmed. The community has the responsibility to attempt to make right the things that went wrong. The issues involved in this case go to the very heart of what it means to live and participate in a community. They are at the very heart of freedom and individual civil rights.

For those who think those three young men from Duke should not pursue a federal civil rights case, please think again. For those who do not think they were seriously harmed, please think again. Not addressing these issues is to accept what occurred. It is taking a chance that something of this nature will happen again. Everybody knows not to pick at a sore, but sometimes sores need to be sterilized and bandaged. Sometimes sores will not heal without care.

For those who wish to turn a blind eye to this sore spot in the history of Durham, shame on you! You should be vigorously supporting those three young men from Duke.

For those who would say "you can't put a price on freedom" it seems clear that $30 million doesn't even begin to heal the wounds those three young men from Duke suffered. And it won't cover the scars that will be with them for the rest of their lives.

As unsettling as this endorsement is, your title wrong. Endorsements of those who have demonstrated vile and outrageous behavior based largely on racial motives is not, unfortunately, limited to Durham.

The bright side is that it makes the Committee once again look as foolish as it seems.

But local activist Victoria Peterson, with a group called Christians for Morality in Government, told Commissioners her group had collected more than 300 signatures to ask them not to vote or support such a policy.

Lesbians and homosexuals live a "dangerous lifestyle" and are more prone to suffer from "expensive diseases," she said.

"If they are not infected with diseases ... they will be, even women," Peterson said. "Who is going to pay for this if they become sick in their gay lifestyle?"

So many of the gay activist types in and around Durham (like that pathetic Peoples' Alliance) are probably wanting to write on their blogs and the like against Peterson running, but won't be able to because she's so associated with the Duke case which they don't want any attention drawn to because they acted just as disgracefully. LOL! Talk about being squeezed!

Gloria Peterson asks, "Who is going to pay for this [i.e., 'expensive diseases'] if they become sick in their gay lifestyle?" I would ask, "Who is going to pay to put Gloria Peterson in the loony bin once and for all?" Perhaps she can get a room in the same ward as CGM.

For a forecast of what kind of city councilwoman Victoria Peterson would make, all one has to do is call a friend who has lived in Wilmington, NC and ask what kind of city councilwoman Katherine Moore was during her terms.

"And for you NC and Durham bashers, let's give it a rest. We didn't invent lying and cheating here. The next spotlight may be in YOUR hometown."

9/15/07 4:30 PM

LOL, yeah but you guys have certaintly taken it to a whole new level. Victoria Peterson for city council, how can you expect us to give that a rest. Durham is testiment to the fact that there is no lifeguard at the gene pool.

...I've occasionally wondered how someone like Victoria Peterson avoids prosecution for some of the zaniness and the trouble she instigates.::Probably the same reason sane Duke professors never went after members of the G88.

Why wants to get a memo from the Dean telling you that you have been charged with being a sexist, racist or worse?

You just know that you will spend the next year either getting ready for trial, in the courtroom or trying to explain to everyone including your kids why you have no control over your own schedule.

Thanks for posting that video, K.C.! Whenever I watch it, I know that I am seeing America's Funniest Video. When that floral-printed shoulder sidles into the camera angle, I laugh out loud! Every single time!

I think that VP must have a scanner at home that she listens to, and when something big comes up - involving television cameras - she races out the door.

Peterson is, to me, a cartoon character. Who would actually do more damage to Durham on the council: Cattoti or Peterson? In my opinion, the answer is Cattoti.

Those who may sympathize with the Durham community's approaching education on the teeth contained in the Federal Civil Rights Act should consider news like this, then reconsider where their sympathies should lie.

...is a quite eloquent defender of freedom. He is also a clear example of the fact that vocational pursuits are in no way correlated with intellect, for his words have great wisdom. He may not be a published scholar, but his words deserve scholarly pursuit.

Looks like Florida Evans is running for city council. Great, I hope she wins. Durham deserves her. So, I guess JJ will be the next police chief or will be otherwise employed by the city in some crony position.

I'm really surprised. I thought Lavonia Allison (Durham Committee head) and Victoria Peterson couldn't stand each other. I remember Peterson interfering and grandstanding at a dog-and-pony show Allison staged regarding education in Durham. Is this some kind of spoiler or stalking horse endorsement?::If you want to know the moral fiber of Allison, check out the Independent Weekly's article on her in 2001, by Jennifer Strom.

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I am from Higgins Beach, in Scarborough, Maine, six miles south of Portland. After spending five years as track announcer at Scarborough Downs, I left to study fulltime in graduate school, where my advisor was Akira Iriye. I have a B.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard, and an M.A. from the University of Chicago. At Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center, I teach classes in 20th century US political, constitutional, and diplomatic history; in 2007-8, I was Fulbright Distinguished Chair for the Humanities at Tel Aviv University.

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"From the Scottsboro Boys to Clarence Gideon, some of the most memorable legal narratives have been tales of the wrongly accused. Now “Until Proven Innocent,” a new book about the false allegations of rape against three Duke lacrosse players, can join these galvanizing cautionary tales . . , Taylor and Johnson have made a gripping contribution to the literature of the wrongly accused. They remind us of the importance of constitutional checks on prosecutorial abuse. And they emphasize the lesson that Duke callously advised its own students to ignore: if you’re unjustly suspected of any crime, immediately call the best lawyer you can afford."--Jeffrey Rosen, New York Times Book Review